Tangled: The Missing Princess
by FlyToYourHeart
Summary: My first fanfic. Takes place when Gothel steals Rapunzel and long before you hear young Rapunzel sing the healing incantation. I'll be writing another chapter that skips to 18 years later. Please tell me what you think.
1. Chapter 1

**_The names Disney gave to Rapunzel's parents are King Thomas and Queen Primrose, so I am using them._**

**_A/N: Please review!_**

**King Thomas and Queen Primrose woke up in the middle of the night at the sound of their baby crying. The scene in front of them froze them in place. An old woman grabbed Rapunzel, looking at the King and Queen before disappearing into the night. Quickly, they ran past Rapunzel's crib onto their balcony. They saw no sign of her.**

**They looked at each other, devastated. They didn't know how the woman came into their room from outside, as they saw no ladder. A rope could not do, for she would have to be in the room to throw down a rope.**

**"Guards! Guards!" Thomas shouted. Within moments, four guards entered the room. "Someone stole our daughter!" he mumbled in frustration. "O Thomas!" Primrose cried, realizing that this wasn't a nightmare. 'I'm not dreaming!' Her baby girl was gone, and she had seen the kidnapping!**

**The guards weren't sure how to respond to this message. This hadn't occured for a long time, beyond their lifespan.**

**A fifth guard entered. "Your Majesty, I and the guards outside saw an old lady running with something in the front of her cloak. She had her hands fastened to it," he said. "That was my daughter, ****_your _****princess and future queen!" Primrose cried out, tears streaming down her face.**

**"We will begin a search mission immediately," Sir Leonard told them mightily. The situation was serious. Kidnapping someone, especially the son or daughter of a king and queen, was a crime that resulted in public execution. The guards left, ordering 30 guards to split in four and search for the missing princess. They were to search every house and building in Corona, under beds and in wardrobes, on the roofs, in the forest. It was even scheduled to search a nearby island that was in sight if you stood on the roadway of the bridge!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Gothel finally reached the tower. She was exhausted. She released Rapunzel from her chest, and smiled.**

_"Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the Fates' design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine.**"**_

**Becoming young was a big relief, and feeling energetic again added to it. She wondered how she ran all that way from the palace to the tower. She had become old from cutting a lock of hair, and she hurried, but it felt as if she wouldn't make it.**

**She sat down in a cushioned chair by the fire. "My dear flower, they will never find you," she whispered in Rapunzel's ears, "you'll be taken cared for better than anyone in the world."**

**...**

**It became morning. Thomas and Primrose awoke. "Good morning, Thomas." Primrose hugged her husband from behind him as if she were a 7-year-old hanging on for dear life on a galloping horse. She loved him dearly. Thomas turned, his back resting on the bed. "Good morning, love," he cooed. The head of the guards knocked on the door. "Come in," Thomas and Primrose simultaneously commanded. The guard walked in. "Your Majesties, your daughter hasn't been yet found." '_Rapunzel?_' At the mention of her they suddenly remembered what happened several hours earlier. "We will begin searching the nearby island and in the forest today," the guard concluded. "Rapunzel is still missing, Thomas," Primrose whispered, weeping over Thomas' s chest. Thomas weeped with her.**

**"Breakfast for the King and Queen!" exclaimed an optimistic servant. She sat the tray onto their lap, which contained two large plates full of toast and omelet eggs. "O, Highnesses. I heard about the kidnapping of our princess. She will eventually be found," she said. "We just don't know when." She walked out of the room.**

**...**

**A few days later, in the tower, Gothel sighed out of exhaustion. Greedy in heart, it was hard for Gothel to take care of Rapunzel. She was stressed, and mothering involved love. Gothel had to spend her time changing Rapunzel's diaper, feeding her, talking to her, bathing her. But the dreaded question: How would she bring Rapunzel into the kingdom to buy food without people seeing her? Rapunzel's hair was a foot long for a 9-month-old baby. And everyone knew that the princess had long golden hair and green eyes. 'I'll braid her hair into a bun and...cover her from head-to-toe with my shawl,' Gothel planned. She sighed at her wits. She would be able to keep Rapunzel with her and make herself stay young forever. But something dawned on her: 'The guards are looking into the forest, and if I go out, they'll find her if we come into each other's paths, and I'll lose my flower...forever!' "I'll think of something," she told herself. "I only need to go out for food and water, so..." She looked into the cabinets and drawers. "Whew!" she sighed. She had stacked the tower with plenty of food and water to last a month, so she needn't worry. She decided to sing the incantation:**

_Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the Fates' design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine_

**Within a second, she felt calm and, of course, younger. "Sleep well, flower," she whispered into Rapunzel's ears. 'Now, breakfast,' she thought.**

**...**

**The King and Queen were in their room. Thomas had been walking back and forth for hours, stopping only to eat lunch and dinner. Primrose sat on a chair beside Rapunzel's empty crib. It had been a week since their baby's disappearance. **

**"O Thomas! How long will it be before we get our daughter back?" Primrose asked. "I don't know. It's been a week. To be honest, she should've been found by now. That old woman lives here somewhere, and the guards are searching every inch of Corona."**

**"Her birthday is in three months. She will be exactly 365 days old," Thomas thought aloud.**

**...**

**While the search went on, Gothel just laughed. "Ha! This tower is nearly at the end of the forest hidden from sight, and the forest extends to seven miles." Her face saddened. "Of course...with so many guards, they might find us." Rapunzel started crying. Gothel sighed as she walked over to Rapunzel. "Shush, flower. Mommy's here," Gothel cooed, rocking Rapunzel in her arms.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**I am planning on writing a 4th chapter, beginning 18 years later. So this chapter won't be the last, but Chapter 4 will. I thought that since I have some people following this story, I should give them another chapter, especially for those who like this story. Please review and enjoy!**_

**It had been a month since Rapunzel was kidnapped. She was nowhere to be found, and all hope was lost. This made the King and Queen more sad. The woman was never found. This message to the neighboring kingdoms, which Thomas and Primrose had notified in case someone saw anyone of the same description, became an object of interest and suspicion. The old woman stole the princess, every inch of Corona and the neighboring kingdoms was searched, so where could the two be? Unless the woman had a home secretly hid underground somewhere where no one could find her.**

**"I will have the royal painters create an artwork of me, you, and Rapunzel. It will be placed in the Public Squares." Primrose slightly grinned. This remembrance of her along with the floating lanterns, seemed to be the only proof of their love for her, and their wish for their baby to return.**

**Thomas ordered that a golden wig be brought. A baby of 8 months had been brought that looked close enough like Rapunzel. The royal painter, though, had to paint the eyes as green as an apple. The baby had brown eyes, Rapunzel had green. "The baby is asleep, so that will do. Just paint her with open eyes and it will go fine," Thomas said. The painter obeyed. He did the Queen and the baby first, then Thomas. It took three hours. When he painted Thomas, the baby was awake. But that did not create a problem. Once the painting was done, they let it dry for an few hours. It was done on a mosaic, and the royal painter was the best in the kingdom.**

**The baby was given back to its mother and father. Primrose longed for Rapunzel. She wanted to hold Rapunzel and be like the happy mother that was in sight of her. "I'm sorry about the loss of your daughter," said the woman, "our princess will return someday." Primrose nodded with sad eyes.**

**Primrose seated herself on a bench in the Palace Gardens. "Rapunzel, come back to us sooner or later," she prayed. "Where could she be? Dead in the forest? In the sea?" she asked herself. "Buried several feet in the ground? No! She's alive. That old woman took her for a reason." She sighed.**

**"Primrose?" She looked behind her. "Thomas? O, I was just thinking about what could have happened to her," she said, "that woman took her for some reason." Thomas sat down and hugged her. "Is it possible the woman climbed up to our balcony?" she asked, seeing a long rope of vine lying amongst the bushes. 'It may have been how the woman came into their room,' she thought. "Maybe. However she did, she stole her. She will be punished for it. I will have the guards search everyday until the ends of the forest. If she is not found by her next birthday...then we have no hope unless she's found," Thomas told her. "I sure hope someone will find her," Primrose smiled.**

_**Please tell me what you think.**_


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